Suspect dies in custody

Editor’s note: This corrects an earlier version.

A man who was scheduled to appear in court Monday on charges that he assaulted two Newport Beach police officers in December died in custody over the weekend, officials said.

Ruben Maya Gallegos, 36, of Costa Mesa, was identified by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department website as the man who died Saturday morning while incarcerated at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange. Officials later confirmed the information on the website.

Deputies at the jail reported a medical emergency in Gallegos’ cell about 4:05 a.m. He was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange and pronounced dead, said department spokesman Jim Amormino.

The cause of death was not released.

The Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating the death, as it does with most in-custody deaths, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Emami provided no further information.

Gallegos was arrested in December and charged with assault with a deadly weapon against the officers. He was originally charged with battery and resisting arrest, but a week later prosecutors upped the charges to assault with a deadly weapon, court documents show.

Police approached Gallegos about 11:10 p.m. Dec. 19 at Placentia Avenue and 16th Street because he was behaving erratically, said Lt. Craig Fox.

Gallegos didn’t cooperate with police, ran into traffic lanes and appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Fox said.

He then charged an officer who struggled to restrain him, Fox said.

In the scuffle, Gallegos ripped the officers’ badges from their uniforms, got a hold of one officer’s baton and hit him in the head with it and tried to take another officer’s gun, Fox said.

It took two officers using their batons to try to subdue Gallegos and, ultimately, five others to help restrain him, Fox said. Two officers and Gallegos were taken to the hospital and treated for their injuries. Gallegos was cleared by doctors and taken to jail, and the two officers were treated and released, officials said.

Gallegos pleaded not guilty and was due in court Monday, less than a week after his most recent appearance.

The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner referred questions to the district attorney’s office. Outside of the December arrest, Gallegos’ criminal record shows only tickets in Costa Mesa for unlawfully camping in a park, drinking in public and a failure to appear in court.